Analytics Team
The Citywide Analytics Team is the City of Boston’s central data organization. We use data and technology to improve our City.
Through better understanding and usage of data, we work to increase the quality of life for residents and enhance City government. Our analysis and visualizations focus on improving how the City operates. We work with City departments to:
- solve challenging problems
- build a more effective government, and
- deliver better outcomes for people who live and work in Boston.
Contact
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1 City Hall Square, Room 703
Boston, MA 02201 -
Office hoursMonday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Learn about our work
We're interested in using data and maps to better understand the City of Boston.
Celebrating five years of serving our residents in the City of Boston.
Where you can access Boston’s municipal data.
We gauge the health of the City by aggregating key metrics.
A tool that provides data about Boston's properties.
We have a series of interactive maps related to the City of Boston.
Track the City’s progress towards achieving the plan's goals.
How participants used open data to solve problems faced by the City.
Related documents
Related documents
Press
Press- OpenGov Voices: Making open data more accessible — three lessons from Boston (Sunlight Foundation, January 17, 2017)
- Analyze Boston cranks up civic engagement on open data (StateScoop, February 28, 2017)
- Open data portal beta encourages visitors to 'Analyze Boston' (GovTech, March 1, 2017)
- Boston puts open-data quality first (GCN, March 20, 2017)
- How Boston plans to save $1 million by watching its power bill (StateScoop, March 30, 2017)
- Boston Open Data Challenge will highlight City's new data portal (GovTech, April 10, 2017)
- Case Study | Boston’s Citywide Analytics Team (Harvard, May 15, 2017)
- How an open license can encourage use of open data (Sunlight Foundation, June 2, 2017)
- Map of the Month: Vision Zero Boston (Harvard, July 25, 2017)
- Mayor Walsh releases Rentmart tool for renters (Wicked Local, August 7, 2017)
- Tech Tools, Dashboards Help Boston Spark Citizen Interest in Open Data (GovTech, August 25, 2017)
- Keep the city accountable for its Imagine Boston 2030 goals with this datadashboard (Metro, August 28, 2017)
- Find out if your Boston apartment has a history of problems, and what to do if it does (Globe, August 31, 2017)
- How cities score (Economist, March 23, 2016)
- Hazard data helps Boston firefighters make informed decisions (GovTech, July 29, 2016)
- Boston officials use Big Data to find deceptive rental ads, unsafe units (Boston Globe, September 2, 2016)
- Technology helps cops track down Boston johns (Boston Herald, October 13, 2016)
Dashboards
DashboardsThe dashboard is used by the Mayor and City staff to regularly understand demographic information about employees currently employed at the City of Boston.
Please note: The dashboard is updated each month. The left-hand side of the dashboard updates according to filter selections made on the right-hand side. These include:
- by department
- by organization, and
- by employee start date.
Through our application, you can search an address in the City of Boston for information about a residential property.
The “Mass and Cass” area in Boston gets its name from the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. In recent years, the opioid epidemic, the housing crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase in those experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Mass and Cass.
For more information on Mass/Cass, please visit this page.
We have created a dashboard with up to date metrics on 311 calls, treatment placements, transitional housing, and more.
The goal of the Supplier Diversity Program is to create equal opportunities for businesses of all kinds in Boston. After your business is certified with their office, they’ll include you in any outreach efforts they make for City projects. They can also connect you to resources offered inside and outside of the City.
Learn more about the Supplier Diversity Program here.
You can search the database to find certified diverse and small businesses in Boston here.
Certified Business DirectoryThe Buying Plan provides a look into upcoming procurement and contracting opportunities. This is based on a list of what City Departments plan to buy in a given fiscal year. The list will be updated on a recurring basis. The Buying Plan will reflect the City's most up-to-date plans for purchasing.
Our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will be driven by and for the people of Boston using the American Rescue Plan resources. Through emergency relief and transformative investments, we want to ensure that every Bostonian has the opportunity to thrive in the months and years ahead.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused rapid and profound disruptions in our economy and way of life. The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Research Division has created a comprehensive framework of high-frequency data to measure the evolving situation. With the assistance of the Analytic Team of the Boston Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), BPDA Research has created a dashboard to present the data in an up-to-date and easily visualized format. Based on the economic indicator data, additional research, and interviews with industry leaders, the BPDA Research Division has also prepared presentations for the Mayor’s Coordinated Leadership Forum, hosted discussion sessions for BPDA and City staff, and written briefing notes to provide additional context. Relief - Reopening - Recovery: Building a Just and Equitable Economy provides an overview of the crisis, the Boston response, and trends that may shape the recovery. All the materials presented by the BPDA Research Team can be found here: COVID-19 Economic Impact Research.
Economic indicators within each dimension:
1. Labor Market
Unemployment rate; Number of employed residents; Initial and continued unemployment claims; Unemployment claims by industry; Job postings
2. Economic Activity
Seated diners; Hotel occupancy; Consumer foot traffic; Consumer spending; Time spent at workplace
3. Mobility
Requests for driving instructions; MBTA ridership; Logan passengers; Visitors and commuters to Boston; Time spent at home
4. Real Estate & Housing
Office and retail vacancy rates; Housing sales; Non-residential development approval; Housing unit development approval; Construction hours worked
5. Social Assistance
Food distribution; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients; 211 calls; Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) recipients; Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) recipients
Vision Zero Boston is our commitment to focus the City’s resources on proven strategies to eliminate fatal and serious traffic crashes in the City by 2030.
To learn more about Vision Zero Boston, visit the Vision Zero page.
The Vision Zero dashboard looks at aggregate motorist, cyclist and pedestrian crashes by date.
Vision Zero DashboardThe Homicide Investigation Unit investigates all homicides occurring within Boston Police jurisdiction. According to FBI standards, the annual homicide clearance rate is calculated using:
- the total number of new homicides in a calendar year, and
- the total number of homicides that are cleared that calendar year, regardless of the year the homicide occurred.
The reason for this is that homicide investigations can span multiple calendar years. Incidents that happened in previous years can also be ruled a homicide years later and added to the current year’s total.
Please note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 clearance rate is unusually low. This is because the courts and grand juries were closed during the year. The closures impacted our ability to hold offenders accountable and bring justice to victims’ families.
Homicide clearance rate dashboard
Rule 323 provides guidance to officers in ensuring that intelligence and information is gathered via stops or observations out in the field only on:
- persons suspected of engaging in criminal activity, or
- persons associating with those suspected of criminal activity.
The rule offers guidance on those stops that implicate an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. It also clarifies how officers should document interactions with those suspected of criminal activity, or associates of those individuals, in a Field Interaction/Observation/Encounter (“FIOE”) Report. The report provides officers with the mechanism to describe the conditions and circumstances involved in these interactions.
FIOE data are published annually. This is due to the extensive legal review and redaction required to protect the privacy of those who are the subjects of the FIOE. The Boston Police Department (BPD) has previously released numerous reports and has published multiple years of FIOE data. This happened most recently in April 2021:
October 8, 2014:BPD released FIO study by Dr. Anthony Braga and Dr. Jeff Fagan analyzing 2007-2010 data
January 8, 2016:BPD released FIOE data covering January 2011 - April 2015
May 23, 2017:BPD released FIOE data covering June 2015 - December 2016
March 13, 2020:BPD released FIOE data covering January 2017 - December 2018
May 8, 2020:BPD released FIOE data covering January 2019 - December 2019
April 16, 2021:BPD released FIOE data covering January 2020 - December 2020
FIOE reports dashboardThe shootings dashboard contains information on incidents:
- where a victim was struck by a bullet, either fatally or non-fatally
- that occurred in the City of Boston, and
- that fall under Boston Police Department jurisdiction.
The dashboard does not contain records for self-inflicted gunshot wounds or shootings determined to be justifiable. Information on the incident and the demographics of victims are included.
The information is updated based on analysis conducted by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center. The Center is under the Boston Police Department Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis. The data is for 2015 forward. Please note: There is a seven-day rolling delay to allow for analysis and data entry to occur.
Shootings dashboardThe shots fired dashboard contains information on shooting incidents that:
- did not result in any victim or victims being struck
- occurred in the City of Boston, and
- fall under Boston Police Department jurisdiction.
This information may come into the department through:
- a 9-1-1 call
- a ShotSpotter activation, or
- an officer on-siting an incident.
Shots fired incidents are confirmed when:
- ballistics evidence is recovered, or
- in the absence of ballistics evidence, there is strong witness or officer corroboration.
This information is updated based on analysis conducted by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center. The Center falls under the Boston Police Department Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis. The data is for 2015 forward. There is a seven-day rolling delay to allow for analysis and data entry to occur.
Shots fired dashboardThe Boston Police Department (BPD) Firearms Analysis Unit (FAU) receives all firearms that are recovered by, or surrendered to, the Boston Police. The FAU enters the submissions into a database. Statistics found on the firearms recovery dashboard are generated from the FAU database. The automated data feed is updated daily at 3:15 a.m.
Beginning in 2021, firearms we recover that may be related to a previous year’s investigation are counted in the calendar year in which they were recovered.
Firearms submitted to the FAU are categorized using the following definitions:
Crime GunsNumber of firearms involved with a crime recovered by the BPD and submitted to FAU
Guns surrendered / safeguardedNumber of guns surrendered to, or safeguarded by, the BPD and received by the FAU
Example of a surrenderAn person’s license to carry is suspended and they are legally required to surrender the firearm to BPD
Example of a safeguardingA person turns over firearms that belonged to a relative following their death
Buyback Guns recoveredNumber of firearms turned in to the BPD during a buyback program
Firearms recovered dashboardThrough a close partnership with the BEST, Master’s Level mental health clinicians co-respond with BPD officers. This improves our response to mental health-related calls for service. These clinicians can also:
- help with holding cell evaluations
- provide critical follow-up, and
- help with the mental health training of BPD officers.
BEST clinicians work very closely with the BPD’s Street Outreach Unit (SOU). Formed in early 2020, the SOU provides community-based outreach through partnerships and collaboration. In a professional, humane, and supportive manner, they help those affected by:
- mental illness
- substance use disorder, and
- homelessness.
Through their efforts, SOU officers seek to connect people to services before they engage in criminal activity or public disorder. Much of the SOU’s focus is on the “Mass. and Cass” area. They work with:
- the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC)
- Boston Emergency Medical Services
- the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND), and
- other partners on the coordinated City strategy for this area.
BEST operates independently from the BPD. They maintain their own confidential client database. Therefore, the BPD will only present monthly aggregate data as provided by these two partner organizations. The BPD does not have access to any client information per HIPAA and other privacy concerns.
The BEST dashboard includes two metrics for the BEST clinicians:
- Monthly number of incidents to which BEST clinicians co-responded with BPD officers
- Monthly number of proactive engagement and follow-ups conducted by BEST clinicians
The Homicide Unit of the Boston Police Department (BPD), in conjunction with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, investigates deaths that occur while a prisoner is in police custody.
Pursuant to statute (M.G.L. c. 38, § 4), the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is in charge of all death investigations conducted in Suffolk County. They investigate all in-custody deaths in conjunction with BPD. They also make a determination as to whether there is a violation of criminal law. For public records requests related to these cases, please contact the District Attorney’s Office.
This dashboard contains information related to in custody deaths. Due to the infrequency of in-custody deaths, this dashboard will be updated as soon as possible following an incident. If there are no incidents in a year, the dashboard will be updated annually to record a zero for the previous year.
In-custody deaths dashboardFormed in 1996, YouthConnect is a partnership between the Boston Police Department (BPD) and Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston. It places Master’s-level licensed clinical social workers in police stations and specialized units with front-line officers. Currently, the program covers these districts:
- A7 (East Boston)
- B2 (Roxbury)
- B3 (Mattapan)
- C11 (Dorchester)
- D4 (South End), and
- E13 (Jamaica Plain).
There is additional citywide coverage through the Youth Violence Strike Force, School Police Unit, and Domestic Violence Unit.
YouthConnect’s innovative clinical model allows the social workers to immediately intervene with police-referred youth to provide:
- violence prevention
- intervention
- advocacy, and
- mental health services.
These services are offered to youth when they are engaging in — or at risk of engaging in — delinquent activity.
YouthConnect services are community-based. The program meets youth at home, school, in the community, in detention, or through telehealth. The program is family-focused, working with the entire family. It's also not bound by time limits. Clients may be with YouthConnect for a short period of time or for years. They are also confidential, voluntary and free — three key components to their success.
YouthConnect operates independently from the BPD. It maintains its own confidential client database. Therefore, the BPD will only present monthly aggregate data as provided by this partner organization. The BPD does not have access to any client information per HIPAA and other privacy concerns.
The YouthConnect dashboard includes several metrics, including:
- the number of police referrals to YouthConnect per month, and
- the reason for referral.
Please note: A youth could be referred for multiple reasons. This dashboard also includes demographics of clients served by YouthConnect by year. Not all individuals referred to YouthConnect accept services. Others remain clients for over a year and therefore they may be reflected in multiple years' data.
The YouthConnect dashboard includes three buttons at the top. The first shows the number of referrals per month and the reason or reasons for referral. The second displays the same referral information except the reasons are grouped by type of referral. The third displays annual demographic data of clients (those who have been referred and are taking services). Referral data is updated monthly. Demographic data is updated annually.
Please note: The demographic data in the dashboard goes back to 2016. The referral data displays the current year and two previous years. The referral reason chart covers a rolling two-year period. Previous years’ data is available on Analyze Boston.
View the YouthConnect dashboard